Specialised Food Centre – understanding the capability of the Great Southern Region
As part of the Food Industry Innovation project, the Specialised Food Centre based in Albany will focus on the large number of premium agrifood producers and processors already operating in the Great Southern and Wheatbelt regions. The ultimate aim is to identify value-adding opportunities for these existing businesses so they can work together to reduce costs and enhance their viability.
The first goal of the Specialised Food Centre is to undertake an audit of food production and processing in the Great Southern region – who is doing what, where, how much are they producing and what scope there is for growth.
To do this the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) developed a joint initiative with Regional Development Australia Great Southern Western Australia (RDA) to produce the ‘Mapping food production and processing in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia’ project.
Information is being compiled from existing reports and data sources and surveys of producers and processors across 11 local government areas.
It is a major first step for the Specialised Food Centre and information gathering commenced in June.
The list produced will cover a comprehensive number of stakeholders from regional food producers and processors right through to wholesale and retailers.
The results of this mapping project will give a clear and detailed understanding of the diversity and intensity of the current and future food production and processing capacity in the Great Southern region.
The Specialised Food Centre will then match capacity within the region with new and emerging market opportunities.
DAFWA Specialised Food Centre manager Nikki Poulish said ultimately mapping food production and processing will benefit the entire region.
“The information generated will be used to inform future investment, marketing opportunities and decision making which will translate to whole-of-region support by DAFWA, RDA and other relevant organisations,” she said.
RDA executive officer Simon Lyas said the mapping project will identify gaps in the region, ascertain future capacity and will be important for informing the development of regional strategies.
“We have identified agriculture as a huge growth opportunity for the Great Southern region. Pinpointing the range of agribusinesses in the area from cropping, horticulture, livestock and processors right through the value chain to wholesale, retail and other markets, will enable us to better understand the capability of the region,” he said.
A secondary aim of the centre is to use the data gathered from the survey to create a ‘live’ map and database that can be used to promote and support local foods for consumption and agritourism.
If you are interested in participating in the survey and are an agrifood business in the Great Southern region, please contact Nikki Poulish on +61 (0)8 9892 8415 or nikki.poulish@agric.wa.gov.au for further information.